Newsletter

Train Robbers independent league team moving to Bakersfield, Calif.

Pecos League team struggled from the outset during only season in Topeka

Professional baseball’s return to Topeka effectively swung and missed.

The Topeka Train Robbers, the Pecos League team that called Jerry Robertson Field at Lake Shawnee its 2016 home, will move in 2017 to Bakersfield, Calif. Pecos League commissioner Andrew Dunn announced the decision on Thursday.

“The Pecos League is proud to have the Train Robbers play in Bakersfield for the 2017 season,” Dunn said in a news release on the league’s website, adding that the team’s logo and color scheme (red, white and blue) basically will remain the same.

The Pecos League is an independent professional league owned by Dunn with teams in California, New Mexico, Kansas, Arizona, west Texas and southern Colorado.

The Train Robbers were the first professional baseball club to make Topeka its home since 1961, when the capital city featured the Topeka Owls, a Class B affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds and member of the Three-I (Illinois-Indiana-Iowa) League.

After relocating to Topeka from Las Vegas, N.M., the Robbers struggled from the outset this past season. They replaced their original manager less than a week into the season and failed to gain traction at the box office, often drawing crowds of only a few dozen to their home games.

The team finished its only campaign in Topeka with a 28-35 record, second-to-last in the North division.

The Topeka Train Robbers’ Twitter account posted a tweet Thursday thanking “all the fans that came out and showed your support throughout the season,” concluding with the hashtag #TopekaTrainRobbers.

According to the Pecos League news release, the Bakersfield Train Robbers will finalize their gameday and coaching staff soon. The team will open the season May 26 in Bakersfield against the High Desert YardBirds of Adelanto, Calif.